Qualcomm moved to fend off advances from chip rival MediaTek in the gaming smartphone segment, bolstering its mid-tier line of processors with a new Snapdragon 732G chipset offering faster performance, better graphics and enhanced AI capabilities.

Snapdragon 732G shares many of the same features as the gaming-focused Snapdragon 730G Qualcomm introduced in April 2019, including a Kryo 470 CPU, Adreno 618 GPU, fourth-generation AI engine, Spectra 350 image signal processor and an X15 LTE modem for connectivity.

However, Qualcomm noted improvements in both the GPU, which is 15 per cent faster than before, and CPU, with speeds of 2.3GHz compared to the 2.2GHz available on Snapdragon 730G. It added enhancements to the AI engine now enable up to 3.6 trillion operations per second (TOPS), though did not provide a TOPS figure from Snapdragon 730G for comparison.

The move appears an attempt to counter MediaTek’s release of two new mid-tier gaming-focused chipsets in June in a bid to meet increased demand for affordable smartphones in the segment.

Xiamoi spin-off brand Poco Global is set to be the first to launch a device containing Snapdragon 732G, which Sam Jiang, Poco Global’s head of products, said the company believes will “set a new benchmark in the mid-range category” and redefine “the relationship between a phone’s price and its capabilities”.